Chapter 4:
- Companies sent to the forts -- officers appointed to command -- Militia battalions -- First call for three years troops -- delays at Washington -- letter to Montgomery Blair -- letter of Secretary of War -- General Orderno. 12 -- six regiments allowed -- Governor anxious to send more -- Letterof General Walbridge -- Governor to Senator Wilson -- more delay -- Extrasession of the Legislature -- address of the Governor -- proceedings of theLegislature -- War measures adopted -- debate on colored troops -- Billspassed by the Legislature -- sinking fund -- Government securities -- Payof troops -- established camps -- seven millions of dollars -- State aid toFamilies of soldiers -- the six regiments of three years men -- ten moreRegiments called for -- their organization -- additional staff officers appointed -- Surgeon-General's Department organized -- letter of Governor toDr. Lyman -- board of Medical Examiners -- promotion of the Surgeon-General -- letter of the Governor to Colonel Frank E. Howe -- New-Englandrooms, New York -- letter of Colonel Lee to Charles R. Lowell -- Lettersof the Governor to different parties -- circular of the Secretary of War -- Colonel Browne to Colonel Howe -- abstract of correspondence -- Colonelsargent to General Scott -- Cobb's Battery -- letter to Colonel Webster -- letter to the President -- Irish regiments -- flag-raising at Bunker-Hillmonument -- speech of Governor Andrew -- speech of Colonel Webster -- interesting ceremonies -- conclusion.
The defenseless condition of the forts in Boston Harbor, in the early part of the war, was a cause of much labor and anxiety to the Governor, and to the merchants and underwriters, whose vessels at anchor in the harbor, or lying at the wharves, were greatly exposed. Frequent representations of the insecure condition of Boston were made by the Governor to the Secretary of War, which, for a considerable time, failed to elicit attention. To allay, in some degree, the general feeling of insecurity, the Governor, on the 24th of April, ordered the Fourth Battalion of Infantry, under command of Major Thomas G. Stevenson, to garrison Fort Independence, where it remained until the 21st of May. On the 29th of April, the Second Battalion of Infantry, under command
